KEY POINTS:
New Zealand shares made a late rebound today to recover the ground lost after last week's downgrade by international share index compilers MSCI.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 49.4 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 4092.9, its highest in over a week. Turnover totalled $109 million, and rises outnumbered falls by 58 to 38.
Lines company Vector was the standout stock, recovering to a two-month high of 251, up 6c or 2.5 per cent, from 218 last week.
"The stock always looked cheap anyway but particularly post-the MSCI selldown the market is starting to focus on fundamentals behind the stock, and the fact that there was effectively a profit upgrade in recent times," Macquarie Equities NZ investment director Arthur Lim said.
Other blue chips to rebound were Telecom, up 13c to 444, Auckland Airport, up 7c to 289, Fletcher Building, up 29c to 1169, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, up 11c at 329, and F&P Appliances, rising 6c to 340.
Sky City was up 6c at 491, Sky TV rose 3c to 566, and Contact Energy slid 17c to 847.
The compilers of the MSCI indexes, which guide international trading and portfolio composition, downgraded New Zealand and are removing five of the top-10 stocks due to lack of liquidity and market capitalisation.
Remaining in the index are Telecom, Fletcher Building, Contact Energy, Auckland Airport and Sky City.
The Warehouse was up 10c at 664, having jumped over 12 per cent since the High Court overturned a Commerce Commission ruling blocking supermarket chains Foodstuffs and Woolworths from bidding for the retailer.
"If you add back the special dividend of 35c, it means that the price is now the equivalent of $7. Clearly the market is saying it is unlikely that the Commerce Commission is going to appeal, and it follows news in Australia that discussions have started taking place between the different parties," Mr Lim said.
Air New Zealand was up 3c at 182, Nuplex gained 10c to 700, Infratil was up 7c at 297, Mainfreight rose 11c to 721, and Ryman Healthcare was up 2c at 212.
Freightways fell 6c to 374, Pumpkin Patch was down 5c at 265, NZX fell 5c to 925, and ING Medical Properties was down 2c at 122.
Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ jumped 50c to 3225, Westpac was up 35c to 3265, AMP rose 16c to 1192, and Lion Nathan rose 17c to 1090.
- NZPA